we were loved.
We were ripped from the arms of our
parents and thrown into the fire.
We were nothing more than children.
We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope. We were taken away in the dead of night like cattle in cars, no air to breathe smothering, crying, starving, dying. Separated from the world to be no more. From the ashes, hear our plea. This atrocity to mankind can not happen again. Remember us, for we were the children whose dreams and lives were stolen away.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poems/holocaust/page-/41526686/
The poem above does amazing job of showing how the Holocaust took lives of millions of people who were going to do great things and lead wonderful lives, and reduced them to nothing but ashes. It really humanizes an event that to many is just numbers and statistics. It allows people to sympathize with the victims, and gain a much more real understanding of the damage caused. The line "We had a future. We were going to be lawyers, rabbis, wives, teachers, mothers. We had dreams, then we had no hope." is very similar to one of the main themes in The Book Thief, the power of hope. In the book, Max Vandenburg has almost nothing, other than the hope of being able to survive. His hope is really the only thing that keeps him moving forward. It is a stark contrast to the people described in the poem, and how their hope was completely destroyed. Their hopes and dreams were literally "stolen away". It shows how hope, one of humanities strongest driving forces, was unable to survive the harsh realities of the Holocaust.